In the new episode of “God and the World”, Irmgard Huber, head of pastoral care at the Archbishop's Ordinariate in Munich, is thinking about Pentecost.
Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen - Pentecost is around the corner, the feast of the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells of the fact that he used tongues of fire and storms to move the frightened group of disciples, drive them out of the houses, and have them rousingly announce the Good News in all languages.
Irmgard Huber is the head of pastoral care for women in the Archiepiscopal Ordinariate in Munich.
The great church teacher Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179) took a different, gentler picture of the work of the Holy Spirit for her own life. In a letter to a prominent priest of her time, she reported that sometimes she felt like a little white feather that could not do anything on its own. It is only through the blowing of the Spirit of God that it is set in motion.
The comparison lags a bit, because a feather cannot actually move by itself, a human being can. With this picture Hildegard wanted to show that she felt her assertiveness, her creativity and her influence on her fellow men as a gift from God. Because she entrusted herself to God's guidance, she accomplished many things that were outrageous for a medieval nun.
It is interesting that the word for God's spirit in Hebrew is a feminine one: ruach. The labor of the spirit and the labor of a woman giving birth have a mental relationship, because the Hebrew word root contains the verb that is used for the thrusting, life-giving breathing of the woman lying in labor. One could say that where the spirit can work, something new arises, life goes on. Last Monday I was deeply touched by a contribution in the "Welttspiegel": Six very young Afghan women managed to develop an extremely inexpensive ventilator for corona patients from auto parts. In a country of all, where violent Taliban would like to keep girls completely away from education and want to write women's rights extremely small, a group of girls enthusiastic about technology succeeds in a sensation. Simply divine, you could say.
The mind blows where it wants - always where good things come from. I am convinced of that. The Spirit of God not only leads people to confess their beliefs and make them rousing, it is the cause of all creativity that creates positive - everywhere in the world. Especially now that we are struggling worldwide to find ways to leave the lockdown behind and to try to work together and for each other despite Corona, we should think Pentecostally and trust that God's Spirit does not abandon us human children.
